Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Deverne
Rushton was born and raised in Truro,
Nova Scotia. He presently lives
in Londonderry, N.S., with his wife, Valerie. He has two
daughters and a new grandson. Deverne loved to draw all his life, but did not
have any formal training in chainsaw carving or chiseling. He originally bought
his chainsaw to clean up some old apple trees on his property, but saw
something in a tree and instead made a memorial of a St. Bernard he had lost.
Of his work, Deverne says, “I always had an interest in art and drew a lot as a
kid, and carving the dog kind of reignited that interest.” The rest is history;
“Devo’s Doins Chainsaw Carving” was officially born. A large scarecrow was one
of those apple trees, and was completely carved and chiseled while still in the
ground. Since then, Deverne has carved many wood sculptures using only a
chainsaw and chisels. “It’s just whatever comes out of my head and I never make
anything twice.” His designs are created in his head and, for the most part,
without an initial drawing to guide him. Deverne continues to delight with each
new carving, some of which include scarecrows, hockey players, hen and chicks,
a skiing St. Bernard, fishermen, a beaver taking a ride on a curling rock, and
two bear cubs climbing to their pot of honey.

On a
side note, Deverne is also a Handyman, and one of his jobs was helping take
care of the Elizabeth Bishop House.

****** Ed. Note: As a former owner of the EB House, I can attest to Deverne’s
skill and dedication to his craft. His help was invaluable. The above image shows a couple of his
carvings on the verandah of the house.

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5 September 2017: Nulla dies sine linea

[Today, near the beginning of a new month traditionally associated with the first day of school we begin a new feature to replace the long-running "Today in Bishop." Each day we hope to post a brief reflection on a line from Bishop's poetry, beginning with the title of the first poem in her first book, North & South. We would be happy to have contributions from the Patronage-at-Large, should anyone be so inclined.]

"The Map"

Not simply "Map": abstract, generalized, a concept more than an object, perhaps not even a noun at all, but an imperative, an imperious directive; nor yet "A Map": token of a type, a random example run across by chance, perhaps, on the dusty dark-fumed oak table in the centre of Marks & Co. once-upon-a-time during a long-anticipated visit to 84, Charing Cross Road just prior to its burial beneath a modernist glass tower, where its once-upon-a-place is now marked by a memorial plaque; no, no, no — "The Map" — unique, archetypal, redolent of all that makes it one-and-only, but also a congeries of interwoven metonymies as patterned and abundant as the sixth of the "La Dame à la licorne" Flemish tapestries ("À mon seul désir") or as Vermeer's "De Soldaat en het Lachende Meisje"— or, yet again, as the map in EB's "Primer Class."

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John Barnstead

I retired in 2014 after forty years of teaching Russian language and literature. I'm a past president of the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia.

Sandra Barry

I am a poet, independent scholar, freelance editor, and secretary of the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia.

Suzie LeBlanc

I am a professional singer who recently became a great admirer of Elizabeth Bishop's writing. I am also fond of walking and nature and I became involved with the Elizabeth Bishop Centenary because I wanted to have her poems set to music so that I could sing them.